The
invention of the long playing record gave an enormous boost
to what later would be called "the music industry". Existing
magazines started to flourish and new magazines - like High
Fidelity - were launched because of the proliferation of the
new, black, vinyl disc.

Although
in the first years many music buffs continued to listen to
78 RPM shellac discs, the LP (which was developped by Columbia,
USA, and presented for the first time in 1948) was quickly
conquering the world and for the convenience of "the
consumer" all sorts of catalogs were published which listed
the records that were available on the market. In the US "Schwann
Long Playing Record Catalog" and "The Longplayer",
and in the United Kingdom "The Gramophone Long Playing Record
Catalogue" were published on a regular basis. In no time
these publications were considered to be the most important
reference catalogs in the field, worldwide.

But
what if you wanted an opinion on a specific record or wanted
to know what outstanding recordings were available of a given
work? Well, then you would have to search the magazines and
make a list with comments. That would be a lot of work. And
you would have to rely on the available reviews.
The solution to this problem was simple but complicated at
the same time.
By 1955 Warren DeMotte finished compiling "The Long Playing
Record Guide". But before it was published he asked Leopold
Stokowski to write a preface. Stokowski, who had always been
interested in recordings, technique and in the gramophone
record, saw the uniqueness of DeMotte's project. He agreed.
However he did not know DeMotte before; and they never met
afterwards.

Although
various guides and catalogs had been published before, with
listings and comments (as Irving Kolodin had done with The
New Guide To Recorded Music), DeMotte's guide was really unique
and the first of its kind. It was not a duplication of Schwann,
The Longplayer or The Gramophone catalogs. Nor was it based
on Roland Gelatt's High Fidelity Record Annual which saw its
first edition in July of 1955 and contained reviews which
had appeared in High Fidelity Magazine in 1953, 1954 and a
few reviews from the early 1955 issues.

The
Long Playing Record Guide compiled by Warren DeMotte listed
the available recordings of compositions of practically each
and every composer and Demotte evaluated the interpretations
of the musicians and in many cases mentioned the technical
quality of the discs. The reason for the publication is obvious.
Read the first sentences of the introduction that Warren De
Motte wrote to his THE LONG PLAYING RECORD GUIDE:

"Since
the advent, in 1948, of the long playing phonograph record,
the record collector has been faced by an embarrassment of
riches. Due to the use of the tape recorder and the LP process,
resulting in the reasonably low recording costs, dozens of
record companies have come into existence, and many of them
issue records at an amazing rate. In only a few years a thick
catalogue of recordings has been built up, with countless
duplications that manage to confuse the collector, the
dealer, and the recording companies alike."

At
the time "The Long Playing Record Guide" served
thousands and thousands of music lovers in making their decisions
on what recorded performance on LP to buy, or it would at
least tell them about the qualities of the records they already
had on the shelf.

Warren
DeMotte has been active in home audio development
as associate editor of a major hi-fi magazine, record
reviewer on several magazines, producer of a network
Good Music program, and author of a monthly magazine
feature entitled Warren DeMotte's MUSIQUIZ.
His analytical articles on home playing equipment
are authoritative and his components comparison-charts
have set an industry standard.

From
the cover of The LP/STEREO RECORD GUIDE & TAPE
REVIEW

Many
record collectors and music listeners have come across this
guide and have searched for many recordings and have read
the many evaluations and criticisms written by DeMotte.

What
makes "The Long Playing Record Guide" so interesting,
is that DeMotte - despite of omitting recordings of works
by Paganini and Granados for example - assesses the quality
of each recording and compresses his opinion in a single phrase
(or sometimes two) and he marks the best available performance
with an arrow.

Some
people would argue that one cannot do justice to the efforts
of musicians, producers, and recording engineers, by allotting
just a few words to their product and add a discriminating
arrow to the product of a fellow musician who would have given
a better performance. But every time one reads DeMotte's judgement
on a recording owned, one cannot doubt his expertise and above
all his sincerity, even there may be of course differences
in opinion.

The
interesting aspect of DeMotte's painstaking exercise is that
the result is equally valuable today as it was in 1955, the
year in which the first edition was published.
Especially for record collectors of old mono disks it is a
mer à boire.If
you come across this valuable item do not hesitate to buy
it, be it the first or the more complete second edition.

On
my pages (especially on
THE REMINGTON SITE) I shall - from time to time, but
always with gratitude - cite a characterization of this or
that recording as it was given by Warren DeMotte.

The
Long Playing Record Guide by Warren DeMotte Dell Publishing Inc., New York,
1955
A second, updated edition almost immediately followed. It listed recordings that
could not have been included when preparing the first edition, especially listings
of Deutsche Grammophon recordings released by American Decca.

In
the early nineteen sixties Warren DeMotte compiled "The
LP/Stereo Record Guide & Tape Review: Formerly The Long Playing
Record Guide". The new guide was published by Argyle
Publishing Corp., in 1962.

Again
Leopold Srokowski wrote the preface. This guide is also an
invaluable reference book for the serious classical record
and tape collector. It lists the first stereo recordings from
the first years of any original American disc and the the
available American issues that are the equivalent of Decca
SXL, His Master's Voice ASD, British Columbia SAX, English
RCA SB, LSC, SR, etc. And again it is a magnificent reference
guide.